Watching Charlie
by Twilighter
Summary: Edward wants to hear something from Charlie, but it’s not what he expects.


A/N: This is a one-shot I wrote out of morbid curiosity. It's one of my more decent little vignettes, so I decided that I'd post it. It's it hasn't seen a beta, so be gentle. Hope you like it.

-Lisa

* * *

**Watching Charlie**

**By: Twilighter**

_I have to call the commissioner when I get back_.

I watched as Charlie puttered around the kitchen. He pushed a chair into place at the table, placed his dishes in the sink, and hung the dishrag just so. He even folded the newspaper and put it in the fruit bowl, like Bella always does after she eats breakfast. I smiled. Maybe her good habits were finally rubbing off on him.

_Patty's gonna want to know about the records._

He walked over to the refrigerator, pulling a pen out of his breast pocket. _Milk,_ he scrawled on a slip of paper that was hung by a think black magnet. At the top of the paper, the words _Grocery List_ were already written, in that same scraggly handwriting. Now I was grinning outright; Bella had obviously put Charlie in his place when it came to household duties.

_I hope I didn't forget the flowers. Patty would be so upset._

My eyebrows rose. Who was this Patty? Was Charlie finally seeing someone? He was looking around, annoyed. I spotted the bouquet just a few seconds before he did. They were plain flowers, nothing special, just the type you could pick up quickly in a ready-made parcel at the florists'.

"Ah," I heard him sigh faintly. "Now where are my keys?"

He rummaged around the drawers, looking across the countertops. I shook my head. The keys were in plain sight, hanging on one of the hooks next to where he usually hung his holster.

Charlie saw them out of the corner of his eye. He trudged over to the keys and pulled them off the hook, shaking his head to himself.

The phone rang as he was unlocking the door.

"Hello?" I couldn't hear the response from my position.

His face warmed. "Hey, Jake."

_This kid is something. I can't thank him enough for what he's done..._

I frowned. Who was Jake? I didn't recall ever hearing of him from Bella, nor from Charlie – mentally or otherwise. My ghost of a heartbeat stuttered – could he be a replacement for myself?

"No, no, don't worry. I already picked up the flowers. Or Patty did, rather." He smiled sheepishly into the empty kitchen. Ah – so he didn't buy them for her. So Charlie was just alone as always, I assumed.

_I'll have to thank her for that again._

"No, I'm just on my way out. Is Billy coming?" My eyes narrowed. _Quileute_. Billy Black. Jake – Jacob – was his son. She'd flirted with him. He'd danced with Bella. But – hadn't she regarded him as a child, hadn't she tricked him to her own ends?

My nerves eased a bit.

"Why don't you bring Sue along, too?"

_I'm sure she'll want to visit Harry._

I watched him deflate slightly at the thought – old memories were drawn up heavily, like water from a well. I gathered that he had died. A heart attack.

So they were all going to visit Harry Clearwater's grave. Normally I would have had more respect – I wouldn't have followed during such a personal time. But Charlie had some information that I was keen to have – where was Bella? He would think of her sooner or later, and I wanted to be there.

Her room upstairs was empty. Untouched. I assumed she had gone to college. Of course, I could have asked Alice where…but I was too ashamed of myself. I wouldn't be able to listen to the inevitable '_I told you so_,' in all their words, or tones, or thoughts. Because I would no doubt hear it.

But I could bear to hear such things later, after I found her again. Later, I would be the happiest man alive, and their thoughts wouldn't hurt me at all. For now, though, it was a matter of pride. A sin, but that didn't make it any less strong.

"Do you know if it's supposed to rain today? I didn't check."

_Where's that umbrella? Oh, yeah, it's in the car._

I remembered, as he did, the garish, rainbow-colored contraption that Bella had bought over the last summer, when I had still been with her. I smiled – how thoughtful of her to leave it with Charlie, instead of taking it with her to college. Or, maybe, she was someplace sunny and bright for her schooling…where she deserved to be.

This didn't place any damper on my plans at all – I was going to find her, nonetheless. Nothing could keep me from her, now. I'd already expended all of my self-control in that area.

"Alright. Okay, Jake. I'll see you there – fifteen minutes."

He hung up the phone, nearly tripping over the ratty, hopelessly tangled cord. He then patted himself down, checking that everything was in its appropriate pocket, before finally leaving and locking the door behind him.

The police Chief passed by the big, red, monster of a Chevy on his way to the squad car – Bella had left it home. That probably meant that she was in school far away, to have not brought it with her. How long would it take me to get to her?

I briefly considered breaking and entering the Swan home to find the information I needed, just to hasten things along. But I decided to be patient…a penance, another way my masochism was evident, because waiting pained me so. But again, that was overshadowed by the knowledge and the elation that I had decided to return to her side.

As Charlie walked by the truck, he let his hand trail along its pale, red metal side. The memory of when he'd first given it to her flashed through his head and he smiled. I smiled too; I'd never seen that bit of her life before.

_Bella…_

His hand dropped and he made his way to his own car.

I followed along as he drove, running parallel to the road under the cover of the trees. The sound was muffled, but I heard music as Charlie turned on the radio. I cringed slightly in distaste…the tasteless music of the seventies, the music of his youth, was drifting from the speakers. The sound was amplified in Charlie's thoughts. He sang along, out loud and in his head, and I was sorely tempted to block him out.

We finally pulled up to the cemetery, into the muddy drive before the black iron gates. It wasn't raining, although the air smelled like the skies would open up any second. But for now, it was relatively dry, and Charlie exited the car, grunting as he lifted himself from the seat.

_The boy calls to make sure I'll be on time, and yet _he's _the one that's late_._ Kids these days…_

Charlie snorted, shaking his head.

I heard them before he did.

Billy and Sue were chatting while Jacob was driving. His thoughts were the only ones that were relatively solemn. I assumed that Harry had not died too recently, perhaps just after I had left.

From my vantage point in the forest, I saw as they all pulled up. Charlie, smiling amiably, walked over to greet them. Sue, I'd never seen before – she was Quileute as well, with a willowy frame and black hair, streaked with grey, cut short just below her ears. She had a tired look, but seemed relatively peaceful. Billy looked the same – old, wrinkled, grey…still in his wheelchair, yet still lively.

His son had changed, so much that I almost would have second-guessed my assumption that this was the same Jacob. Jake. But I had seen him before, and his face still had most of the same qualities. Though it was harder and more somber than I remembered it.

That was not the greatest of the changes, though. He had grown an impossible amount, and he was taller than I was by an entire head. He was muscular, no longer the lanky, skinny kid that had tried to dance at Bella's prom.

Jacob was unloading his father's wheelchair, not thinking about anything in particular, when he suddenly stiffened.

_Bloodsucker._

The world was a snarl in his mind. A tremor rippled almost imperceptibly down his spine. My eyes went wide – this was no overgrown child.

Jacob Black was a werewolf.

He was downwind of me – he smelled me, but I couldn't smell him. I was so startled at the knowledge that werewolves were once again in Washington that I didn't know whether to stay or to run.

I watched.

Jacob calmly brought the wheelchair to the ground and helped seat his father, betraying no knowledge that a vampire was in the area.

_Should I phase and call the others? Or deal with this myself? Hell, I need to take my mind off of things, so it might as well just be me._

The others? I wondered how many there were.

I wasn't on Quileute land, so I knew that he couldn't attack me. He knew who I was, and that the treaty was to be honored. But volatile werewolves weren't the most trustworthy of creatures…

I decided to wait for him to make his move. He let his father move on ahead with Sue and Charlie, who still had the flowers in hand. He hung back. "Give me a minute," he called to them, voice tight.

"Take all the time you need." Charlie.

_Poor kid_.

Jacob paused, waiting for them to move farther away.

_I should lead it away. It wouldn't be good to kill it within earshot. The way they screech…_

He shuddered at the memory of the sound, and I saw him, phased, ripping the limbs from something with black hair and red eyes. My mind was reeling – that was _Laurent_. He'd come back here? And still a human-killer. I felt a surge of unease – hopefully Bella had been long gone by the time he'd returned.

Jacob looked back at the retreating backs of the humans, then towards the forest. I shrunk back into the shadows. He didn't see me, yet. I watched, curious, as he took off his shoes and threw them into the backseat, then began walking barefoot into the green.

He stiffened the moment he saw me.

_Bastard!_

My name, along with many barely-decipherable profanities, barraged his thoughts in a jumble of malice and disgust. He shook violently, his eyes communicating the utmost hatred.

I was unprepared for what I saw next.

So many memories…Bella, as he first saw her at the beach. Bella, in the car with me when he'd driven Billy to warn her. Bella, at the dance, in my arms. Bella, looking more beautiful than any girl he'd ever seen, at the dance, in _his_ arms.

And then…a blurred memory, second hand. Bella, being carried in unfamiliar arms, shaking and shivering and wet. Bella, eyes wide, incoherent, whispering to herself – '_he's gone'_. Bella, being examined by a doctor, declared in a partially-catatonic state. Bella –

"Stop!"

The images stopped, even though he hadn't known what I meant.

_The coward. It's already begging not to die…_

His voice was a deep, menacing growl when he spoke. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you where you stand, you _parasite_."

I couldn't answer at first. Had I really done that to Bella? I felt sick.

Jacob quaked again, desperately willing himself to keep in control.

_Nobody has to know he's dead. The evidence will be burned. And this leech will finally get what it deserves._

Vivid mental pictures of him tearing me to pieces wormed their way from his mind into mine.

"Why are you here?"

_Has it come to gloat? To celebrate? I'm surprised it took this long._

"I came to see Charlie."

He sneered. "You've seen him, bloodsucker. Unless you want to be ashes, I suggest you leave. _Now_."

"I can't, not yet. And I'll remind you that the treaty binds you from attacking me. My family knows I'm here," I lied. "We don't want war."

_Family. It doesn't know the meaning of the word. If it comes to war, we outnumber them…_

He smiled grimly. "An old piece of paper won't do much to stop me. Now _leave_."

They outnumbered us? We were seven – was it possible that the pack was larger than that?

"I told you, I cannot. I need information." I stood strong, staring at him defiantly. I knew that I could beat this pup single-handedly – it wouldn't be too much of a challenge.

He gritted his teeth, his lip curling up in disgust. "Maybe I can help you, then," he spat out, a mockery of civility. Mongrel. "But afterwards, you _leave_."

I smiled coldly. "I doubt you'll want to help me with this, but thank you for the offer," I said as mockingly as I could manage.

He glared. "And you think Charlie will?" he asked, his voice growing deeper, more animalistic in his anger.

_He would never. Charlie hates this thing almost as much as I do._

I grimaced slightly. I guess I deserved that. But it wasn't as if I would be asking Charlie outright.

"That's none of your business, dog."

_I wonder if he's here about Bella_.

The thought seemed to enrage him even more than I had.

"Is this about _her_? Is that why you're here? To ruin her life any more than you already have?" he was almost shouting now, a snarl underlying every word.

I didn't know how to answer. I'd ruined her life so badly…maybe I just should leave. She must hate me by now.

He took my silence as confirmation.

_That bastard _will_ die, I swear it_.

"Well I have bad news for you then, leech. You're too late."

My eyebrows furrowed.

He took a step forward, every thought in his mind screaming for me to die. "You've missed her. By a few months. She's gone."

I narrowed my eyes. "I know already, you filthy animal. I just want to know _where_. I need to find her."

For a moment, a sick glee entered his eye.

_He doesn't know_.

But then despair overtook him.

_I couldn't save her…_

Another series of memories barreled at me, this time, his own. They made no sense.

My bones locked. I stopped breathing.

_It couldn't be true_.

And then I was running, back to the graveyard, back to where the humans were mourning their respective family members.

Jacob followed me, but stopped a few yards away, out of everyone's line of sight. He threatened me, in his mind, even though he didn't know I could hear. He was mad that I was so close to the humans. He thought I would snap.

I found myself standing behind Charlie. He was kneeling on the wet grass before a grave marked with a pinkish-grey marble stone. His hand touched the top of the marker, and he smiled softly down at the words.

_It can't be true._

A gasp startled Charlie from his reverie, and he stopped thinking thoughts about his little girl, about how he wished she were still here, about how Renee would never, _ever _forgive him for letting her die. He stopped thinking about everything that could have been, as he saw that Sue was staring at something, openmouthed, confused.

He turned around.

I didn't know what I looked like, until I saw myself in his mind. My expression was wild, horrified. I looked like I would be crying, if I could. I was pale, bedraggled, dirty – I had not thought to change clothes since I'd left that hole of an attic in Brazil. I looked dazed, scared, confused, weak.

He looked at me without pity.

_You killed her._


End file.
